Health Policy

National Trends in the Utilization of Partial Nephrectomy Before and After the Establishment of AUA Guidelines for the Management of Renal MassesUrology, Vol. 82, no. 6, pp. 1283-1290. DOI: 10.1016/j.urology.2013.07.068

Objective To assess the impact of the American Urological Association (AUA) guidelines advocating partial nephrectomy for T1 tumors guidelines on the likelihood of undergoing partial nephrectomy.

Materials and Methods We analyzed the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), a dataset encompassing 20% of all United States inpatient hospitalizations, from 2007 through 2010. Our dependent variable was receipt of radical vs partial nephrectomy (55.50, 55.51, 55.52, and 55.54 vs 55.4) for a renal mass (International Classification of Disease, 9th Revision [ICD-9] code 189.0). The independent variable of interest was time of surgery (before or after the establishment of AUA guidelines); covariates included a diagnosis of chronic kidney disease (CKD), overall comorbidity, age, race, gender, geographic region, income, and hospital characteristics. Bivariate and multivariable adjusted logistic regression was used to determine the association between receipt of partial nephrectomy and time of guideline establishment.

Conclusion Although adoption of partial nephrectomy increased after establishment of new guidelines on renal masses, partial nephrectomy remains an underutilized procedure. Future research must focus on barriers to adoption of partial nephrectomy and how to overcome them.

Results
The consumer sample was predominantly Black (71%), and high school educated (62%). Postlabeling, 38% of Philadelphia consumers noticed the calorie labels for a 33% point (P < 0.001) increase relative to Baltimore. Calories purchased and number of fast food visits did not change in either city over time.

Conclusions
While some consumers report noticing and using calorie information, no population level changes were noted in calories purchased or fast food visits. Other controlled studies are needed to examine the longer term impact of labeling as it becomes national law.

Based on the number of hospitalizations for ambulatory-care sensitive conditions in the Paris region (Ile-de-France), and the DRG-based rates for these hospital stays, we estimate the hospital expenditures that could be avoided if patients had access to primary care services that successfully manage their chronic conditions and avoid exacerbations that lead to necessary hospitalizations when they occur. In addition, we caution policymakers about what inferences can legitimately be drawn from such estimates for the expenditures averted on hospital care do not represent a net gain as there would likely be additional expenditures needed to upgrade ambulatory care to manage a host of complex chronic diseases.

Democratization and Universal Health Coverage: A comparison of the experiences of Ghana, Kenya, and SenegalGlobal Health Governance, 6(2): 1-27.

Grépin, Karen and Kim Yi Dionne
09/23/2013

This article identifies conditions under which newly established democracies adopt Universal Health Coverage. Drawing on the literature examining democracy and health, we argue that more democratic regimes – where citizens have positive opinions on democracy and where competitive, free and fair elections put pressure on incumbents – will choose health policies targeting a broader proportion of the population. We compare Ghana to Kenya and Senegal, two other countries which have also undergone democratization, but where there have been important differences in the extent to which these democratic changes have been perceived by regular citizens and have translated into electoral competition. We find that Ghana has adopted the most ambitious health reform strategy by designing and implementing the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). We also find that Ghana experienced greater improvements in skilled attendance at birth, childhood immunizations, and improvements in the proportion of children with diarrhea treated by oral rehydration therapy than the other countries since this policy was adopted. These changes also appear to be associated with important changes in health outcomes: both infant and under-five mortality rates declined rapidly since the introduction of the NHIS in Ghana. These improvements in health and health service delivery have also been observed by citizens with a greater proportion of Ghanaians reporting satisfaction with government handling of health service delivery relative to either Kenya or Senegal. We argue that the democratization process can promote the adoption of particular health policies and that this is an important mechanism through which democracy can improve health.

Simulation instructors often feel caught in a task-versus-relationship dilemma. They must offer clear feedback on learners’ task performance without damaging their relationship with those learners, especially in formative simulation settings. Mastering the skills to resolve this dilemma is crucial for simulation faculty development.

Methods

We conducted a case study of a debriefer stuck in this task-versus-relationship dilemma. Data: The “2-column case” captures debriefing dialogue and instructor’s thoughts and feelings or the “subjective experience.” Analysis: The “learning pathways grid” guides a peer group of faculty in a step-by-step, retrospective analysis of the debriefing. The method uses vivid language to highlight the debriefer’s dilemmas and how to surmount them.

Results

The instructor’s initial approach to managing the task-versus-relationship dilemma included (1) assuming that honest critiques will damage learners, (2) using vague descriptions of learner actions paired with guess-what-I-am-thinking questions, and (3) creating a context she worried would leave learners feeling neither safe nor clear how they could improve. This case study analysis identified things the instructor could do to be more effective including (1) making generous inferences about the learners’ qualities, (2) normalizing the challenges posed by the simulation, (3) assuming there are different understandings of what it means to be a team.

Conclusions

There are key assumptions and ways of interacting that help instructors resolve the task-versus-relationship dilemma. The instructor can then provide honest feedback in a rigorous yet empathic way to help sustain good or improve suboptimal performance in the future.

Enforcing food quality and safety standards in Brazil: The case of COBRACANAThe Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 2013, 649 (1), pp.122-138

Coslovsky, Salo
09/16/2013

Globalization of production has been complemented by increasingly stricter product quality and safety regulations. This trend is particularly acute in the food and beverage sectors, which puts enormous strain on producers from developing nations. This paper examines the trajectory of a cooperative of sugarcane, sugar and ethanol producers from Brazil that, once confronted with this challenge, failed to meet the standards but ultimately came around. It credits the coop’s turnaround to three variables: (a) a new cost accounting methodology that monetized some of the differences in product quality and attenuated tensions among the membership; (b) a low-cost but high-powered system of regulatory incentives that subverted rigid hierarchies and empowered middle-managers vis-à-vis top-executives; and (c) the action of external auditors who acted not as police-officers or consultants, but as conduits who reestablished information flows and helped create a business atmosphere conducive to productive change.

Medicaid’s transformation since its inception rivals the biological changes of metamorphosis, and that process is not yet over. Past metamorphoses are the change from a small program with eligibility linked to the states’ cash welfare benefits to one with national eligibility standards covering many not receiving cash benefits, from a traditional fee-for-service payment program to one dominated by capitated managed care arrangements, and under the ACA to a widely accepted component of a national system for near universal insurance coverage. An analysis of the forces behind these significant changes suggests that future transformations are likely, and four potential scenarios are presented and assessed.